


Puttin' on the Ritz

by Meddalarksen



Series: 30 AU Challenge - Natasha [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Prohibition Era, F/F, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 16:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12113178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meddalarksen/pseuds/Meddalarksen
Summary: Deep beneath an empty theater stands a place of light and darkness, drink and dance, secrets and tales. She dances the night away with her red hair the color of flames.(A 1920s AU with urban fantasy noir hints)





	Puttin' on the Ritz

If you go downtown to where the lights are dark but the city don’t sleep, be careful what you find there, be careful who you cross there. If you go downtown to where the Shield Theater stands, knock three times on the backstage door. If you knock on the door where the Shield Theater stands, be prepared to answer with a quietly spoken word. Make sure you’re in your glad rags cause Shield ain’t no gin mill.

Should they permit you to enter, follow the directions exactly and you’ll find yourself in a different world. For while the streets are dark, while the stage echoes in silence, the faintest of sounds can sometimes be heard from beneath the boards. Down, down, ever down past the old orchestra pit you’ll find yourself descending for what feels like forever but don’t give up. Push open the door at the bottom of the last flight, and enter a world where light and shadow mean one and the same thing.

If you’re in the mood for a drink, avoid the dancers on the floor and go straight to the bar. The man there will mix you a mean drink to slake your thirst. If, on the other hand, you’re there for a dance you’ll never lack for partners. The band is the best there is and as long as your step is light and your words are careful you can dance many a night away in this cavern below the city’s darkened streets.

And if you’re truly lucky you might see her. If you’re unlucky she might ask you to dance. They say she goes through shoes as fast as partners and that she can drink a man twice her size under the table and still dance the Lindy without missing a beat. Who is she? No one really knows. Everyone calls her Fury’s Moll but anyone with two good eyes and a quick mind can tell that she’s not Fury’s, she’s not anyone’s. She’s got hair like fire and a voice to match the smoke that comes with it.

‘Round about midnight she’ll leave you. Oh she won’t leave the speak, but her partner always comes in around then and it’s like everyone else disappears. Her partner is one tall drink of water. The first thing that always happens before even a hello to the heartbreaker is that he sits down across from Fury in that dark corner you’ll always miss when you come in no matter how many times you’ve been there.

He’ll take his hat off and have a drink and you’ll swear his face is too soft to be a man’s, but there’s no mistaking the cut of the suit. There’s never been a dame who could hide it that well that I’ve ever seen. If you’re too close when he and the vamp get around to greeting each other you might catch part of his name, but everyone says they’ve heard something different. The closest we’ve got is Mario or Mark. He’s on Fury’s left as sure as the quiet guy who let you in was on Fury’s right.

When he’s finished with his drink she’ll go over and pull him out to a dance, her red hair catching every shadow while his dark hair captures every glimmer of light. They’ll dance until close and then it’s like they were never there. Poof, gone like magic between one beat and the next.

It’s not wise to stay that late, people say that anyone who does don’t come out the same. You’ll be tempted, who wouldn’t be? But don’t give into it, that temptation to stay in this place of light and shadows. In this place where Fury sees everything and the bartender’s sharp-eyed and the dancer’s sharp-tongued and the doorman is too forgettable to be safe.

But if you’re looking for a hell of a night? Go down and knock on that door at the Shield Theater and dance ‘til dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> So yes, that's Maria being discounted as being a woman because 1920s and men's clothes.


End file.
